George Fox Journal is published three times a year by
George Fox University, 414 N.
Meridian St., Newberg, OR,
97132. Postmaster: Send address
changes to Journal, George Fox
University, 414 N. Meridian St.
#6069, Newberg, OR 97132.

This issue of the George Fox
Journal is printed on 30 percent post-consumer recycled
paper that is certified by the
Forest Stewardship Council
to be from well-managed
forests and recycled wood
and fiber.

Follow us:
georgefox.edu/social-media

Our vision

Water fight! Robin Baker traded in his suit and tie for shorts and a
T-shirt in order to join in on a little summertime fun out on the quad. The
result? A very drenched university president, and some great footage for
a lighthearted Welcome Weekend video made for incoming freshmen.
Visit georgefox.edu/waterfight to see the video.

Jeremy Lloyd

Cover photo by Joel Bock

Jeremy Lloyd

Our vision is to become
one of the most innovative and engaging universities in the western
United States known
for academic excellence
and for connecting the
message of Jesus Christ
to the global challenges
and opportunities of
the future.

m e s s a g e

f r o m t h e p r es i dent

It Takes a Family
Four years ago, our then-women’s basketball coach introduced me to a new
student named Ari Mohsenian. Ari was a great three-point shooter and
fierce defender who dreamed of becoming a teacher.
Our coach asked me if I would
serve as a mentor for Ari, who
had come to know Jesus personally in high school. That
transforming experience gave
her a desire to attend college in
a Christ-centered community.
I asked Ari to take a personal
assessment test, and we spent
time during the semester talking about her strengths. We
interacted many times over the
next four years, and I saw Ari
grow in wisdom and in her passion to work with others. She
President Baker and Ari Mohsenian at spring
became one of the finest bascommencement
ketball players ever to play at
George Fox, and perhaps more importantly, one of our best leaders.
This summer, my wife Ruth and I had the privilege of attending Ari’s wedding in her hometown of Yakima, Wash. The wedding was in a beautiful
garden shaded by large trees. We arrived early, and it was impressive to
count the number of George Fox people who made the three-hour drive
to celebrate Ari and Garrett’s special day. They came from every area of
the university: her coach Michael Meek; athletic director Craig Taylor; athletic department administrative assistant Patty Findley; residence hall staff;
education professors; students from the residence hall where Ari served
as a resident assistant; and teammates. Even one of our basketball alumni
who continues to host weekly player gatherings at her family’s home was
in attendance. All played a role in Ari’s life and development at George Fox,
and all were glad to have known her and shared her love for Christ.
As I reflected on the wedding, I thought about how it represented the best
of George Fox University. When a student comes to us, it is our desire to
adopt them into our family. We want them to receive the excellent education we are known for, but we want so much more. We want them to mature
as people, to gain a vision for life and to come to know Jesus Christ more
personally. This is happening on our undergraduate campus, our regional
sites and – as you can read in this issue – throughout the world through our
hybrid online programs.
It is our purpose here at this institution to send more Aris out into the
world. Christ has called us to this task, and we embrace it willingly.
Robin Baker
President

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

3

Bruin Notes

cam pus happe ni ng s

Nationally Recognized Christian Artist
to Mentor Music Students
Students in the university’s music department will have something to
raise their voices about this year when renowned songwriter, artist missionary and worship leader Aaron Strumpel joins the George Fox community as artist practitioner in residence.
Strumpel, whose tenure at the university is being hosted by the
school’s Center for Peace and Justice, will spend much of his time mentoring student music ensembles, including the chapel band and Shalom
worship team.
Born and raised in southeast Iowa and a graduate of Wartburg
College, Strumpel began his music career performing with The
Restoration Project before launching his solo career in 2006. He has
since gone on to release seven full-length albums and four EP’s. His
most recent albums, Elephants (2009) and Birds (2011), earned high
praise from Christianity Today, Paste Magazine and Relevant Magazine.
Visit georgefox.edu/aaronstrumpel to view a live studio performance.

University Receives
Grant to Continue
Cancer Research
In 2010, a sizeable research grant
from the M.J. Murdock Charitable
Trust gave biology professor John
Schmitt and a group of George
Fox undergraduate students
the opportunity to join the fight
against cancer. Now, two years
later, they’re getting the chance to
continue what they started.
In March, Schmitt received
approval for a second Murdock
grant – this time in the amount
of $37,500 – to fund the research project “Vitamin D Regulation in Breast Cancer Cells.”
Including an additional contribution from the university, Schmitt and his students will
receive a total of $47,500 in funding – enough to continue the project for two more years.
According to Schmitt, the initial grant has enabled the identification of a novel cell
and molecular pathway that contributes to breast cancer cell growth. He and his students
also published a manuscript implicating several enzymes involved in prostate cancer
progression.
“This is a tremendous honor,” says Schmitt, adding that the ultimate goal is to “gain
a better understanding of the biological events that participate in cancer cell behavior and
how we might prevent or stop the disease.”

4

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

Celebrated Performer Returns for Concert
Opera aficionados around campus got a big treat in April
when alumnus Richard Zeller (G83), one of America’s foremost baritones, joined music professor Kenn Willson on-stage
at Bauman Auditorium as part of the university’s Bösendorfer
Concert Series.
Zeller’s impressive resume includes 12 seasons at the
Metropolitan Opera House and engagements at opera houses
around the world. He was accompanied by Willson on the university’s Bösendorfer Imperial Grand Piano, often called the
“Rolls Royce of Pianos.”
The concert, sponsored by George Fox’s performing arts
department, has brought in several world-renowned musicians since its inception in 2007.

Bruin

Inspired to Serve
When Roby’s Furniture and Appliances
owners George and Cindy Lewis were considering different ways to give back to the
local community, they didn’t have to look far
for inspiration. After all, both of their children, Ryan Lewis (G01) and Andrea (Lewis)
Langeliers (G02), are George Fox graduates.
“We were talking about things we could
do as a company, and they both mentioned
that George Fox does a serve day,” explains
Cindy Lewis. “So we thought we would try it
this year.”
As a result of that conversation, on Feb.
8 each of the five Roby’s stores (Astoria,

Notes

c a m p us h a p p en i n g s

Tillamook, Lincoln City, Newport and
Florence) closed their doors and spent the
day serving a local foster family. Projects
ranged from yard work and painting to constructing a new interior wall in one house to
create a nursery.
“It was a really good day,” says Lewis.
“The families just acted like we blessed them
to bits.”
In addition to a boost in employee
morale, Lewis also noted that the company’s
sales in February were the highest in years,
despite the loss of a full day of business.
Plans are in the works for another Roby’s
serve day in February 2013.

McMinns Pen Book Inspired by Life on the Farm

Far right: Emily Haven

Staples Named Volunteer of the Year
Bruin basketball fans may not recognize the face of the
university’s 2012 Volunteer of the Year, but they certainly
know his voice.
Since the 1999-2000 season, Don Staples (G86)
has been the volunteer public address announcer for
George Fox women’s basketball home games. In 12 full
seasons, with an average workload of 12 to 16 games
per year, he has called more than 200 games for the
Bruins, ranging from alumni contests to NCAA postseason tournaments. That amounts to more than 400
unpaid hours.
Staples’ volunteer work with the Bruins actually
began earlier, in 1996, when he began filling in as a
backup PA announcer. His broadcasting career started
when he was spotted sitting at the top of the Miller
Gymnasium bleachers talking into a microphone connected to his recorder. He was given a vacant seat at the
media/officials table courtside and later moved down a
few seats to work in an official capacity.

Back in 2006, when Mark and Lisa McMinn were professors
at Wheaton College, they decided to return to their home
state of Oregon, take positions at George Fox and start a
farm in Newberg.
Today, that five-acre plot of land – and the stories and
produce that grew out of it – have become the inspiration
for a book of essays titled Dirt and the Good Life: Stories from
Fern Creek.
Mark, a
psychology
professor,
and Lisa, a
sociology professor who retired from
George Fox last spring, published the
book in April through Barclay Press.
While both are accomplished academic writers, this book stretched them
beyond their comfort zones.
“Dirt and the Good Life is different . . .”
Mark told the Newberg Graphic. “Each
of the stories points to some deeper
meaning . . . We hope all of the essays
point toward gratitude, contentment
and the simple goodness we find in
growing things from the earth.”
Visit barclaypress.com/324 to learn
more about the McMinns’ book.

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

5

Bruin

Notes

c a m p us h a p p en i n g s

Theatre Department
Unveils Original Production
In April, the university’s theatre department lifted the curtain on perhaps its most ambitious project to date when the original play The
Broken opened in Wood-Mar Auditorium.
The university’s first foray into creating an original full-length play,
The Broken was inspired, in part, by theatre professor Rhett Luedtke’s
experiences in Papua New Guinea. The plot centers on exploring the
tensions, paradoxes and complications inherent in the clash between
two cultures with different ways of expressing their faith.
Luedtke and a team of more than 30 students – including actors,
designers, consultants, stage managers and tech crew members –
logged more than 400 hours of work on the production, which earned
four Meritorious Achievement Awards from the Kennedy Center
American College Theatre Festival.
f From left to right: Ian Rutledge, Jordan Enobakhare, Makana Shimaoka

Students Study,
Serve Abroad
Well over 200 George Fox
students got the chance to
experience a new culture
during their summer break
thanks to the university’s
Juniors Abroad and May
Serve programs.
Students embarked
on professor-led Juniors
Abroad trips to Africa,
Europe, Turkey, Israel,
Hong Kong, South Korea, Vietnam, India, Central America and Australia in May and June, in
addition to service trips to Swaziland and Romania and Moldova.
Activities included rafting the Nile and touring the streets of Paris, but for many, the experience was much more impactful than your run-of-the-mill vacation.
“My biggest takeaway from the trip was how much it strengthened my faith,” wrote senior
Tracy Berg, who joined the Juniors Abroad tour through Israel, Turkey and Greece. “Being able
to walk through the Old City of Jerusalem where Jesus once carried His cross was incredible.”
Since starting its Juniors Abroad program in 1987, George Fox has become a national leader
in study-abroad participation, with half of its undergraduate students participating.
Visit georgefox.edu/studyabroad to read student stories and view study abroad photos.

6

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

George Fox Ranked
Among ‘America’s
Top Colleges’
In August, Forbes magazine ranked
George Fox among the top 10 Christian
colleges in the country in its annual
America’s Top
Colleges list. The
university came
in ninth among
schools in the
116-member
Council for
Christian Colleges
& Universities, and was one of just 650
of the roughly 4,000 colleges in the
U.S. to be ranked.
Forbes based its rankings on quality
of teaching, career prospects, graduation rates and low levels of debt.

Bruin

Inside

Notes

c a m p us h a p p en i n g s

Athletics

Putting Team First
It was the last day of
heptathlon competition at the 2012 NWC
championships, and
junior Alyssa Turner was
having the meet of her
life. Just one good race
in the final event – the
800 meter run – would
break her all-time personal best and elevate
her among the top five
all-time heptathletes in
school history.
From left to right: Katie Dyk, Alyssa Turner, Charity Arn
But there was just
one problem. The team had set a goal of finishing 1-2-3-4 in the event – which would likely lock
up another conference championship – and two of her freshmen teammates would have to set
personal bests in the race in order to do it.
Both Alyssa and coach John Smith knew what had to be done and agreed on a practically
unthinkable plan: she would hang back to pace and encourage teammates Charity Arn and Katie
Dyk rather than reach for her own personal glory.
The result? A 1-2-3-4 George Fox finish in the heptathlon, of course, and a life lesson that
Alyssa and her teammates won’t soon forget.

Arnold Claims Comeback Championship
Alexis Arnold came back from a 71-point
deficit in the final event of the women’s heptathlon to claim a national championship by a
razor-thin margin of just three points, becoming the fourth Bruin to win an NCAA Divison
III track and field championship since 1999.
Teammate Alyssa Turner, meanwhile, was
named NWC Women’s Track Athlete of the
Year. Both were All-Americans.

Morrison Takes Swing at
Player of the Year
Kelsey Morrison became the first George Fox
women’s golfer to claim NCAA Division III
First Team All-America honors, and was just
two strokes away from being named National
Player of the Year. Morrison helped the women’s golf team earn a share of its third straight
NWC championship, closing out the season
ranked seventh in the nation.

Ranta Throws
No-No
Brian Ranta threw
the fourth no-hitter
in George Fox
University history
on March 24, leading the Bruins to
a 1-0 victory over
Whitman while
racking up a career-high 12 strikeouts. Named
the Northwest Conference Pitcher of the
Year, Ranta was one of four Bruins to receive
first or second team all-conference honors.

Coaches’ Corner
New Faces: George Fox
graduate Dara Kramer is
set to become the new
women’s lacrosse coach
in the fall of 2013 after
leading the Oregon City
High School team to back-to-back state
championships in 2009 and 2010.
Randy Dalzell, who guided
the Concordia University
women’s track and field
team to an NAIA National
Championship in 2011,
will take the reins as head
coach of the cross country team, in addition to serving as an assistant track and
field coach.
Recognition: Jessica Hollen earned 2012
NWC Coach of the Year honors after
leading the softball team to its first postseason berth in 18 years. John Smith was
named Northwest Conference Women’s
Coach of the Year for the third year in a
row, and 2012 NCAA Division III West
Region Women’s Coach of the Year for
the third time in four years.

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

7

Bruin

Notes

Professors
Top Undergrad
Teacher:
Kathy Weiss
Weiss, a biology professor who
teaches courses in
three disciplines
– biology, nursing,
and health and
human performance – earned the university’s teaching
honor, in part, for her ability to make complex, complicated material comprehensible
in classes that included pharmacology,
human anatomy and pathophysiology.
An associate professor of biology
who has taught full time in the school’s
Department of Biology and Chemistry
since 2008, Weiss also oversees the university’s Science Outreach Program, a precollege educational program that in recent
years has extended science education to
more than a dozen school districts and 60
schools.
Perhaps the words of one student sum
it up best: “Although the subject she is
teaching is tough, I’ve excelled because
she believed I could, and motivated me to
do so.”

Top
Undergrad
Researcher:
Doug
Campbell
In the case of
Campbell, the
numbers speak
for themselves:
His works have
been exhibited in more than 170 juried

8

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

c a m p us h a p p en i n g s

of

the

and invitational exhibits; he has received
eight faculty development grants and two
grants from the National Endowment for
the Humanities; and he’s published two
books, 39 art images, 82 poems and 55 book
reviews.
During the 2011-12 academic year, the
professor of art taught painting, printmaking, drawing, 20th century art, an “Art and
Christ” course and “Art History from 1450.”
In addition, this past year he participated
in several art exhibits while also publishing
poems and the novel Parktails, an adventure tale that takes place in the aftermath of
a great forest fire.
Campbell’s creative focus has been
directed toward producing and exhibiting
paintings, prints and drawings. His writing
and presentations have focused on the relationship between art and the Christian faith.

Top
Graduate
Teacher:
Christopher
Meade
Meade, an
assistant
professor of
management
who has taught
at George Fox
for four years,
excelled at
teaching in
the school’s MBA, adult degree, doctor
of business administration and seminary
programs.
In 2011-12, his teaching load included
courses on strategic thinking, transformational leadership, ethical and legal responsibilities, and Christian faith and thought. He

Year

also served as president of LeadershipAlive.
com, a nonprofit organization that helps
inspire and coach emerging leaders, teams
and organizations.
Previously, Meade started three small
businesses and founded Grace Chapel, a
multicultural church in Boise, Idaho, where
he served as senior pastor for 18 years. He is
the author of four books and is also a musician/songwriter and motivational speaker.

Top Graduate
Researcher:
Terry Huffman
Huffman, a professor of education
who teaches
research methods
and social foundations of education,
has specialized in
Native American
education for more than 25 years and is
the primary author of “Transculturation
Theory,” a theoretical perspective on
indigenous education used extensively by
North American, European and Australian
scholars.
Huffman’s professional interests include
minority education and rural education.
He has written four books on American
Indian education, including Theoretical
Perspectives on American Indian Education
and American Indian Educators in
Reservation Schools. The South Dakota
Council for Reconciliation recognized his
work in American Indian education for its
contribution toward improved race relations.
Huffman, who joined George Fox in
2003, is also active in chairing student dissertation committee work.

R ecent R ec o gniti o n
Professor Randy Woodley’s
new book, Shalom and the
Community of Creation:
An Indigenous Vision, was
published in May. In the book,

Woodley, who serves as the seminary’s director of intercultural
and indigenous studies, examines the Native American notion of “Harmony Way,”
a concept that closely parallels biblical shalom.
In March, seminary professor
AJ Swoboda released a new
book titled Messy: God Likes
It That Way. Described as both

honest and humorous, Messy
attempts to redefine faith from
something that must be perfect
to something that is imperfect,
but can still offer beauty, meaning and purpose.
Protestant Hispanic Churches
of Oregon, penned by
Professor of Spanish Debbie
Berhó, was published in

March. The book contains observations about trends in the more
than 250 Spanish-speaking
Protestant churches in the state,
and points to a common vision for ministry and
decision-making when multiple cultural and language groups are housed within the same church.
Also released in March
was Visiting Distinguished
Professor Leonard Sweet’s
book Viral, which delves into

the relationship-driven world of
social media and relates it to our
God-given desire to be connected
to others. What would happen, he
asks, if Christians devoted more attention to pursuing relationships?

the 2012-13 academic year. Brunner received a
$16,000 Collaborative Research Grant to support the
research and writing for On Earth as it is in Heaven,
an introductory textbook on ecotheology. Nam
received an $8,000 Theological Scholars Grant for a
project in which he hopes to better clarify our understanding of the economies of the Persian Empire.
Students Quinton Blanton, Abigail Cordova and
Dyvisha Gordon will represent George Fox on
the Oregon Campus Compact 2012 Student
Advisory Board, which is made up of 19 students

from 14 different colleges and universities statewide. The students are the first from George Fox
to serve in such a role for the organization, which
promotes civic and community engagement.
Scholar in Residence Laura Gifford received a
Bordin-Gillette Researcher Travel Fellowship

to conduct research at the Bentley Historical Library
at the University of Michigan. She plans to look into
the George Romney Papers, and secondarily, at the
papers of 1970s-era Michigan governor William
Milliken.
Seminary professor Richard
Twiss was among 125
national faith leaders invited
by President Obama to attend
the third annual Easter Prayer
Breakfast held at the White House April 4. The

gathering was intended as a time for national leaders from the wide spectrum of Christian faith in
America to meet for prayer, friendship, encouragement and community building.

Professor of Art Douglas Campbell had his
poems “Reims Rendezvous” and “Paths” published in the Spring 2012 issue of Windhover: A

Journal of Christian Literature.
English professor Ed Higgins’ poems “The Poetry
Surgeon” and “Thought Fishing” were published in a 2012 anthology, Imago Dei: Poems from

Christianity & Literature.

Professors Irv Brendlinger (religious studies),
Lisa McMinn (sociology) and Margi Macy
(education) were each honored with retirement ceremonies in April to recognize their contri-

IT Employees Recognized
Brian McLaughlin and Tim Goodfellow
from the university’s IT department
were recently honored by the Northwest
Academic Computing Consortium for
their work on the iGFU mobile portal
project.
The portal, which provides a convenient and optimized way to access a
variety of university-related content on
mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, earned the duo a Hugi Exemplary
Practice Award from the consortium. The
accomplishment netted Brian and Tim a
plaque, a check for $2,500 and some welldeserved recognition.

National Accreditation News
The total number of George Fox programs or schools accredited by a national
body rose to 11 in August when the university’s new Doctor of Physical Therapy
program was awarded candidacy.
The DPT program, which began
classes on Aug. 27, joins the School of
Business and three graduate counseling
degree programs in receiving national
accreditation in 2012. The recent accreditations offer further evidence to prospective students that a George Fox education
meets not only regional benchmarks, but
the highest national standards as well.
Visit georgefox.edu/accreditation to learn
more.

butions to the George Fox community.
G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

9

Tobyn Bower takes a break from his
studies at Grand Teton National Park.

10

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

John Gendron

virtual
classroom,
real
connections

Hybrid Learning
at a Glance

More than an accessible education,
hybrid programs are all about building
relationships – online, in person and for life
By Kimberly Felton

“What time do they turn the geyser on?”
“When do they release the bison?”
“How old are deer when they turn into moose?”
The questions from visitors at Yellowstone National Park were sincere, and
Tobyn Bower answered with a smile as he worked as a floor supervisor at the
Upper Old Faithful General Store this summer.
His coworkers asked a different question: “Why do you spend so much time
on your laptop?”
As it turns out, Bower chose Yellowstone for a second summer in a row – after
working at Zion, Olympic and Sequoia national parks previously – because it
provides the access he needs to continue taking seminary classes online. National
parks are typically not known for great WiFi. “The Old Faithful area is such a
populated place, the Internet service is some of the best I’ve seen,” Bower says.
“That’s what drove me to another summer here, so I could do summer classes
without interference.”
Kristen Marble has a different kind of interference to
work around: She is mother to 10 children ranging in age
from 6 to 19 (seven were adopted internationally).
While Bower cracks open his books by Old Faithful,
waiting for the eruption that shoots up to 200 feet into the
air, Marble waits for darkness – and quiet – to settle over her
home, a 100-plus-year-old church in a small Montana town,
before spreading out on the couch. Tall, arched windows
frame her study space in what once was a sanctuary and is
Kristen Marble
now the Marbles’ living room.
Bower and Marble are students at George Fox Evangelical Seminary, both in
cohorts – groups of 20 to 30 students who go through classes together – in the
seminary’s hybrid programs. Each cohort gathers two or three times a year for one
week of “face-to-face” time. The rest is hours and hours logged online every week

Hybrid, or blended, programs emerged
at George Fox University in 1999 as an
avenue for professionals to continue
their vocations while earning higher
degrees. The university’s commitment
that its students “be known” compels
ongoing evolution in these programs,
creating experiences of significant
educational and relational depth.
Students currently enrolled in hybrid
programs at George Fox log in from
numerous countries in North America,
Europe, Asia and Africa, and nearly all
50 U.S. states.
George Fox offers the following hybrid
degree programs:
p Doctor of Education
p Doctor of Business Administration
p Master of Divinity
p Master of Arts in Ministry Leadership
p Master of Arts in Spiritual Formation
p Doctor of Ministry in Leadership and

Spiritual Formation

p Doctor of Ministry in Semiotics and

Future Studies

p Doctor of Ministry in Leadership and

Global Perspectives

p Bachelor’s degree in Management

and Organizational Leadership

In addition, the following programs
offer an online component:
p Master of Education
p Master of Arts in Teaching
p School Administrator
p Teaching Endorsement

In each program, 50-70 percent of
students serve in places of leadership
within their vocation. Another 20-25
percent are lay leadership, middle
management and staff. All programs
also have individuals who enrolled
simply because something in them said
it was time, and they’re following the
path to see where it will lead.

12

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

John Gendron
Courtesy Kristen Marble

Mexico, and a reunion for the year after
that. “Just so we have a reason to get
together,” she explains. “It’s lifelong relationships, and I just didn’t expect that.”
At the masters level in a seminary
hybrid program, students are online
three and a half hours a day, six days
a week. They post about the assigned
reading one day, have three days to dialogue with each other, and then three
more days to post a synopsis of what
they’ve learned.
The key, says Darla Samuelson,
director of hybrid programs at the seminary, is online presence – not only of
students, but of professors and online
facilitators, who serve as a sort of virtual
Bower on a hike at Sequia National Park
teaching assistant. “Their job is to check
in on online presence,” explains Samuelson. “We coach our profesas they post questions, reflect and discuss what they’re learning.
sors to do this as well.”
Tears gather as Marble talks about her cohort – about the births,
Scot Headley, a professor in the School of Education, has honed
deaths, marriages and even cancer. “Two years ago we were stranghis
online teaching skills for 14 years. “It takes more time and has an
ers,” she says. “Now there’s this incredible bond. I wasn’t thinking
emotional cost because you don’t have body language or the fellowabout the people I would be sitting beside. I was just thinking about
ship of being together,” he says. “There’s a real commitment on the
me and my computer” – an education that would fit between her
part of faculty to . . . connect with students and want them to have
roles as wife, mother, pastor, speaker and writer.
the same experience [as on-campus students] of being known and
What began at the academic level as a desire to make a George
cared for.
Fox degree more accessible to potential students like Marble
“It takes commitment and diligence and follow-through. It means
became an ever-deeper and ever-wider global network of close
being available to our students 24 hours a day, and developing an
friends. Scratch “friends;” students in these hybrid programs
become more like family. They feel more connected to their cohorts
– academically, spiritually, emoThey feel more connected tionally – than they’ve experienced
in traditional classroom settings.
to their cohorts –
“I can be out here, yet optimize
academically, spiritually,
my entire masters experience
emotionally – than
without hindering or stifling it,”
they’ve experienced in
says Bower. “With face-to-face
traditional classroom
time, I remain connected to my
settings.
online cohort. Every face-to-face
time when I return for a week of
studies, it’s become a family reunion.”
“In some regards we’re more known because the professor has
read what we’ve written or asked for prayer for – which doesn’t
necessarily happen with students who just show up once a week
for class,” says Marble. “We talk a lot online. During our face-to-face,
we’ve had pastors in our cohort share about challenges they faced
in their denominations, in tears, because we have that kind of trust.”
Marble and her husband John have 10 children,
Now with two years left in their degree program, Marble and her
seven of which were adopted internationally.
classmates have already planned a post-graduation missions trip to

“With the online
program, students can
choose you because of
who you are, not where
you are. And who
we are is something
special.”

Jeremy Lloyd

ability to read virtual body language – being able to read between
the lines of how someone says something, how long the post is, the
emoticons, what’s being left unsaid. It all helps me see a student in
the same way that face-to-face allows us to read body language.”
Despite the added intensity Headley experiences as an online
professor, the cost is worth the gain, both personally and professionally. “With the online program, students can choose you
because of who you are, not where you are,” he says. “And who we are is something special.”
While the online medium forces professors to interact with each student, it also creates an environment where each student must interact as well. Performance is based on a rubric, a specific set of
guidelines and expectations, for each class. Everyone must post a response to the reading material,
and everyone must interact with others’ posts.
When Marble showed up for orientation, “I wasn’t sure I belonged,” she says. “Third-grade confirmation was my only Bible. Chemistry and German are my undergrad degrees.”
Entering seminary two years ago, Marble’s toes had just barely touched the fringes of ministry,
and she wanted more biblical knowledge. She planned to keep quiet and learn, but quiet isn’t an
option in the program’s rubric. “Getting into the classes, I realized I had a voice and ideas. There was
a spot where I belonged, and could contribute.”
“Our No. 1 goal is to help students be present to each other, and for the faculty to be present to
them,” says Gloria Doherty, director of hybrid learning programs at the seminary.
“Our online programs are kind of like contemplative prayer. People engage, then have quiet
reflection, then pursue that reflection. Isn’t that the way God wants us to approach him? Engage, sit
in the quiet, and then gain understanding from that. For me personally, it’s all about the community
– and powerful learning comes from that.”

Marble interacts with members of her cohort during “face-to-face” time.

Like Father, Like Son
Father and son Ben and Ryan Staley
both received their doctorates from
George Fox University this past spring.
And while they reported similar experiences, there was one major difference:
they were separated by 1,800 miles.
Ben, who earned a Doctor of Ministry in Leadership and Spiritual Formation, completed his studies in a hybrid
learning environment, logging in from
Wichita, Kan., while maintaining his
position as lead pastor at Northridge
Friends Church. Ryan, meanwhile, took
the more traditional route, studying inperson at the Newberg campus to earn
his degree from the university’s Doctor
of Psychology program.
So while Ryan interacted with professors and fellow students in the “real
world,” Ben did so virtually, through
regular conference calls, chats and
e-mails. Both, however, noted a connection to their professors and fellow
students.
“The faculty and staff make themselves available and are responsive
as much as possible to accommodate
students, whether near of far from the
Fox campuses,” says Ben, who also
mentioned the significance of relationships built during the required 10 days
each semester of “face-to-face” time
with his cohort in Cannon Beach, Ore.
For Ryan, sharing a similar experience with his father “provided another
avenue of connection for us as we
were able to relate to, understand and
support each other in ways we hadn’t
before.”
Ben and Ryan aren’t the first
Staleys to graduate from George Fox.
Daughter/sister Rachelle Staley earned
a master’s degree in spiritual formation in 2000, and was recognized as an
outstanding recent alumna in 2005.

Living
Richly
Angie Bymaster chose a different
path than most doctors â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and she
couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be happier

By Jeremy Lloyd

14

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

M

Jeremy Lloyd

ost doctors drive expensive cars, send their children to
the most prestigious schools, and reside in big houses
in upscale neighborhoods. Angie Bymaster has none of
these things, and quite frankly, prefers it that way.
“I think I would hate it,” says Bymaster, who graduated from
George Fox in 2000 before completing medical school at the
University of Iowa and taking a job at the Valley Homeless
Healthcare Program in San Jose, Calif. “Of all the places I could live,
I think a wealthy neighborhood would make me so terribly sad.”
“That’s probably something I need to work on,” she adds, laughing.
But don’t expect that to happen anytime soon. Bymaster and
her husband, Brett, an electrical engineer, live in a modest home
with their four children – three adopted Sudanese refugees, ages 21,
16 and 13, and her 22-month-old son – in a San Jose neighborhood
plagued by poverty and gang violence. Both work part time.
“His engineering job and my doctoring job are kind of our second
jobs,” explains Bymaster. “Our first job is our family and our community, and working toward the Kingdom of Heaven within that.”

“There is no stereotypical homeless guy”
Bymaster couldn’t be more content with her neighborhood or her
job, which brings her into daily contact with the people who need
her most: the mentally ill, drug addicts and recently released prison
inmates. All are homeless, and most haven’t seen a doctor in years.
There are no appointments at the free clinic – “Our patients don’t
have calendars,” she quips – so each day they gather in the waiting
room to be assessed by a triage nurse, and those in the greatest need
of treatment are seen first. Every day brings a new cast of characters
into Bymaster’s life.
“Almost every day something really interesting happens, which
is what I love about my job,” she says. “You just don’t know what to
expect.”
She recalls one patient who had been stabbed in the chest, and
another who had severe trench foot and was practically catatonic
with depression. Still others live in isolation in a nearby creek and
haven’t seen a doctor in decades, “and their systolic blood pressure
is 250, and they have really ridiculous vital signs.” And then there
are the recently released prison inmates who experience anxiety
trying to cope with the outside world, and the schizophrenics who
think the FBI is following them, and the addicts who have seen their
lives destroyed by drugs and alcohol.
“There is no stereotypical homeless guy,” she explains. “Every
time you think this is what the homeless are like, then the next guy
is going to blow that out of the water.”
Some of their stories are funny, many sad, and sometimes,
Bymaster is given a chance to affect real change in a patient’s life
that goes beyond physical healing.
“I love treating addiction,” she says. “There’s this freedom that
you don’t see with other diseases, where they become so happy and
so free, their heart just starts to soar when they’re able to get away
from a substance.”

“It ruined me for the gated-community life”
Ironically, Bymaster grew up on the not-so-mean streets of Roseburg,
Ore., a small town that lays its claim as the “Timber Capital of the
Nation.” It was in this rural setting – where her church had a hand in
supporting many of the local shelters – that she first became comfortable interacting with the homeless.
Later, during her time at George Fox – where she was exposed
to new ways to serve and encouraged by her professors to follow
God’s plan for her life – Bymaster really began to identify her calling.
The chemistry major and writing/literature minor recalls having
her views on God challenged by Bill Jolliff and Ed Higgins, engaging
in theological discussions with Carlisle Chambers, getting advice
about medical school and her future plans from Dwight Kimberly,
and enjoying the spontaneous moments when Bob Harder would
“stop the class and just talk about the awesomeness of God, because
some concept of physics was so cool.”
Bymaster’s relationship with her advisor, Paul Chamberlain, was
especially impactful. “I remember once he told me that he thought I
would be a good doctor, and that was really special to me.”
Soon Bymaster began joining other students on regular Friday
night visits to a homeless outreach site. “God convicted my heart
that this should be a normal part of my life,” she recalls.
Then, during her junior year, she joined a George Fox serve trip
to Oakland, Calif., where she was first introduced to the Mission
Year program, in which young people are tasked with living in innercity neighborhoods for a year and serving those in need. “At the
beginning of the week I thought, ‘These people are totally crazy,’ and
then by the end of the week I felt compelled that I needed to do it.”
After graduation, Bymaster immediately joined the program,
living with a group of six on a limited budget for a year in Oakland.
She recalls hearing gunshots at night, always feeling anxious, and
wondering, “‘What is it like to be a child growing up in this neighborhood?’ We could leave if we needed to, but that was home for them.”
“We experienced living among the poor and getting to know
what they go through, what their life is like,” continues Bymaster. “I
think it ruined me for the gated-community life.”

“This is where God wants us”
It may sound like she’s giving up a lot, but Bymaster doesn’t see it
that way. After all, the schools in her neighborhood are full of immigrants who are learning English as a second language (just like her
adopted Sudanese kids), her family is fully immersed in the local
community, and she and her husband are able to focus on their
children and ministry without the time restraints of full-time jobs.
Bymaster and her family are thriving in the most unlikely of locations, but it’s a place where they feel perfectly at home.
“We really enjoy our life,” she says, “and we also know that at
anytime God could move us somewhere else, and have us do something different. I think we have a good deal of contentment in that.
But right now, we feel very much that this is where God wants us.”

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

15

Make a

Joyful
Noise

Chris Benjamin’s love of music turned
into a future he never imagined – but
not without a little help along the way
By Sara Kelm

“And the home . . . of the . . . brave.” When Chris
Benjamin, a 15-year-old high school freshman, had
finished singing, the choir teachers could only stare at
him, dumbfounded.
In his head, he just knew they didn’t like him. “I was ready
to just tuck my tail under and walk out,” Benjamin recalls.
But before he could leave in embarrassment, Mrs. Bohart
regained her composure. “Why aren’t you in choir?” she asked,
still flabbergasted by Benjamin’s exquisite tenor voice.
“We have a choir?” he innocently replied.
Singing is one of the few things that came easy for Benjamin.
His life had been hard, with his father in jail for half of his life
and his family moving constantly, around Oregon and later
Mississippi. Benjamin had been
abused on occasion, emotionally and
physically, and at those times he chose
a friend’s couch or sleeping outside on the
street over a hurtful home. Now, because of
a Mississippi transcript problem, he had to
repeat his first two years at Reynolds High School.

16

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

Joel Bock

held hostage here, but you are welcome here.” So he
After his audition, the teachers invited him to sit in on
stayed around, and just like Mrs. Bohart before them, the
a choir class. Right before he left the room, they rememBakers’ minds went straight to college.
bered, “Oh yeah, and you can sing the national anthem.”
Benjamin didn’t think college was an option. But the
From that moment on, Karen Bohart took the big and
Bakers urged him to apply to George Fox, just to see
boisterous high schooler under her wing. She overcame
what would happen. So he sent up a prayer: “God, whathis aversion to classical music — for Benjamin, listening
ever you want, that’s what I’m going to do.” A day or so
to classical was like “trying to feed a little kid vegetables”
later, Benjamin was leaving the Bakers’ home with Mrs.
— and before long he was singing in top-notch choirs.
Baker. She rushed inside to answer the telephone, then
She also took Benjamin as a soloist to New York and
just as quickly rushed back outside, literally jumping
California, and let him direct one of her choirs for his
with joy. “She was trying to remain prosenior project.
For Benjamin, listening fessional,” recalls Benjamin, “but she was
During his junior year, Mrs. Bohart
to classical was like
hopping and skipping” with a huge smile
said, “Chris, you are going to college.”
Benjamin laughs remembering it. He
“trying to feed a little on her face. It was George Fox University,
and he had been accepted.
describes her as sweet, but “a bulldog. If
kid vegetables”
The Bakers continue to be a huge part
she wants you to do something, you’re
of Benjamin’s life. He recalls how they’ve helped him
going to do it. If she sees something in you, she almost
“get in and stay in” college. “They are big pillars to lean
takes the role as mom in your life.” With her dogged
on, but they won’t allow me to be lazy,” he says.
encouragement, Benjamin warmed up to the idea of colLazy, Benjamin is not. Now a senior at George Fox,
lege. But just getting used to it didn’t make it so – he had
he’s studying music performance and music education,
to pass high school first.
is involved in choir and musicals, and serves as a partDuring his senior year, Benjamin lived with his father
time minister at his church. He also started his own
in Northeast Portland. Each morning, he had to comgospel choir, Voices of Praise.
plete a two-hour journey to school on buses and the
The choir has an intentional purpose. Benjamin
MAX train. Many nights, he would finish rehearsing at 11
hopes it will give the George Fox community a different
p.m., travel home, do homework until early in the morntype of worship experience. As a black student on a priing, then wake up to leave at 5 a.m. He became stressed
marily white campus, he wants to show that all kinds of
and sick, neglected his schoolwork, and was in danger of
worship are for everyone. “Our mission is to worship,” he
not graduating.
says, “to bring a community to worship, to show another
It was at that time that another pushy and loving
way to worship God.”
woman came into Benjamin’s life: Patricia Baker. He
This worship mind-set bleeds into all of the music
describes her as “the smallest woman, but with the bigthat Benjamin sings, whether it’s a classical German
gest heart, who gets excited about the smallest things.”
piece or a gospel worship song. “I’m going to worship
The wife of the arts director at Reynolds and a retired
in whatever way I can, whatever languages there are out
principal, Baker had already raised two daughters, so
there,” he says. “That’s what I love about the classical
she decided her home was big enough for a 19-year-old
world. It is always sung differently, sounds different, but
man. So Patricia and Dan Baker, plus the choir teachthe worship mind-set is always the same.”
ers, announced that Benjamin would move in with the
With worship shaping his whole perspective,
Bakers, who lived only five minutes from the school.
Benjamin’s short-term goals are to graduate from
At first he protested. A self-proclaimed “daddy’s boy,”
George Fox this year and continue directing the Voices
he didn’t want to leave his father, recently out of prison.
of Praise. In the long-term, he wants a specific job: Mrs.
Then his father came to him, unaware of the proposal set
Bohart’s.
in front of Benjamin, and said if his son had the chance
In high school, Benjamin told Mrs. Bohart, “Okay, I’ll
to move closer to school in order to graduate, he should
go to college – for you – but I want to come back and
take it. So he did, and he graduated.
teach in this district.” He wants to be the Mrs. Bohart, the
He was ready to move out that summer, but the
Patricia and Dan Baker, to the next generation of Chris
Bakers had become a big part of his life. “They took on
Benjamins. He can’t wait to tell them that they can go to
the parent role without knocking out my own parents,”
college, and that he can help them get there – just like
says Benjamin. The Bakers didn’t bring up the idea
he heard several years ago from those strong and loving
of him moving out until the summer was well underwomen in his own life.
way, at which point they let him know that “you’re not

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

17

‘I can do all things through Christ

Blake Shelley’s (G12) cerebral palsy didn’t deter him from earning a
degree – or from starting a ministry that reaches out to disabled youth

O

By Sean Patterson

Shelley began his first Capernaum ministry in Newberg in the
ne of Blake Shelley’s favorite George Fox memories has
fall of 2010. He wasn’t too excited about the idea at first.
nothing to do with academics, activities or an event he
“My first reaction was to say, ‘No, I don’t want anything to do with
attended. Rather, he remembers fondly the day his main
it,’” he says of the ministry, an outreach of Young Life. “I spent my
mode of transportation went mysteriously missing.
whole life trying to separate myself from the mentally challenged
“In my first year at Fox, I was living over in Beals House and my
population. Because we look funny and talk funny, a lot
roommate thought it would be a good joke to put my
“If
people
still
of people put me in that category, so in high school I
scooter on the roof,” he recalls. “We had a good laugh
doubt my ability did everything in my power to stay separate from them.
about that.”
“But over the course of two weeks God changed my
The fact that Shelley – who has lived with cerebral
to do things I
heart,
and I got this feeling that I have to do this. I went
palsy all his life – can laugh about a friend’s mischievous
set my mind
act speaks volumes. Nothing rattles him – not a disabilto, there’s not to visit the Capernaum in Lake Oswego and just fell in
love with the ministry and with the kids. Now it’s all I
ity that relegates him to a wheelchair and impedes his
much to say”
want to do.”
speech and fine motor skills, and certainly not a prank
Capernaum is all about building relationships and, according
like hoisting his scooter on top of a house.
to
Shelley,
“showing the love of Jesus” to disabled high schoolers
That resolve drove Shelley, 23, to graduate from George Fox this
who, for the most part, have little or no social lives. It entails visits to
spring with a degree in Christian ministries. And now he has plans
students at school, twice-monthly club meetings for games, singing
to start a Capernaum group – a ministry that specializes in reaching
and devotions, and summer camps that encourage kids to bond and
out to disabled youth – in his hometown of Gresham, Ore.
18

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

who gives me strength’

Photos: Joel Bock

i At the end of each Capernaum meeting, Shelley
delivers a brief message, this time reminding
students that “we’re all made in the image of God.”
f Shelley, who suffers from limited mobility due to
cerebral palsy, never backs down from a challenge.
In this case, it’s slithering across the floor in an
“animal race” with his Capernaum students, earning
him the nickname “Blake the Snake.”

get outdoors.
“Every time they walk into club or I walk into school, they always
come running up to me to say hi,” he says. “No matter what they’re
doing. They’re that excited to be with me and the other leaders. That
really touches me.”
Shelley is starting his first Gresham-area Capernaum group at
his alma mater, Reynolds High School. Ultimately, his hope is to
see similar clubs form at all the Gresham high schools – Gresham,
Barlow, Centennial, David Douglas and Parkrose.
He credits the support he received from friends and professors
at George Fox for nurturing his love of those less fortunate.
“I had never been on another college campus where I felt like
students were a family and the professors actually wanted to get
to know you and become your friend,” says Shelley, who attended
George Fox through Act Six, a full-ride scholarship designed to
develop urban leaders. “The supportive atmosphere is a big reason
I was able to succeed here, and it had an impact on my decision to
do Capernaum.”

Shelley struggles to speak and has trouble controlling his arms
and legs, yet, as he proudly puts it, he “managed to graduate from
one of the top Christian colleges in the nation.
“I started out not being able to do a whole lot, but in high school I
did track, and I was the first one of all my siblings to move out and go
away to college,” says Shelley, who has a twin sister and a younger
sister. “So, if people still doubt my ability to do things I set my mind
to, there’s not much to say, because as long as I keep my focus on
God and what he wants me to do, it doesn’t really matter what other
people say.”
Still, he is quick to deflect praise. “I’ve had people tell me I inspire
them, but I always want to make sure that it points back to God,
because although I have done a lot of things that people didn’t think
I could ever do, it is only because of my faith in God.”
“I have always lived my life by Philippians 4:13, which says, ‘I
can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.’ I always
believed that the only reason I was able to achieve the things I have is
because it was Christ living in me and through me to strengthen me.”

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

19

What did you read this summer?
T

Darryl Brown

hat’s what we asked George Fox
professors, and to no surprise, the
response was almost unanimous: “I can
only choose one book?” What we didn’t
expect was the depth of answers, ranging from books that delved into the usual
topics of religion, politics and history to a
novel that follows the story of an ambassador from Earth as he treks across an
alien world. And more than one professor
cracked open The Hunger Games trilogy
to better connect with their students.
Curious what your favorite professor is
reading? Here are a few of their responses.
For the rest, visit georgefox.edu/books.

Michael MacLeod, Politics
Faithful Citizenship: Christianity and Politics
for the 21st Century by Greg Garrett
I chose this book, in part,
because I am contemplating assigning it for a class
next year. I highly recommend it. American politics
has become highly polarized, and most Christians
are increasingly caught up
in this polarization or avoid politics altogether. This trend is addressed head on,
focusing on the causes and building a case
for a helpful dialogue between religion and
politics.
Laura Simmons, Seminary
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson (audiobook)
I am a huge fan of Apple,
and I wanted to know more
about this complex man. I
found it evenhanded and
well-researched. Isaacson
does not pull punches
about Jobs’ volatility and
demanding nature as an employer, but overall I found it a sympathetic portrayal.

Roston doesn’t treat biblical drama as a
dramatized sermon or a crude forerunner
to the Renaissance, but as a nuanced reflection of the “spiritual struggle of men committed to an ideal yet torn from it by their
human weaknesses and strengths.”

Mark Eaton, Theatre
Biblical Drama in England: From the Middle
Ages to the Present Day by
Murray Roston
I would recommend this
book to anyone interested
in how God’s Word may
inspire believing artists,
particularly playwrights.

Mark Hall, Politics
American Grace: How Religion Divides and
Unites Us by Robert Putnam
and David Campbell
The book is a must-read
for anyone interested in
the relationship between
religion and public life in
America.

20

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

Bill Jolliff, English
Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy
I hadn’t touched this book
since graduate school. I
picked it up again with the
idea in mind that it might
be a useful text for a new
course I’m teaching next
spring that focuses on 19th
century American writers who spoke truth
to their culture. Oddly enough, I’m finding
it even a better read than I remembered.
It speaks in weirdly prophetic ways to the
economic turmoil facing the United States
today. It’s almost hard to believe that it was
written in 1887.

Debora Herb-Sepich, Business
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne
Collins
I am always behind on
the current “fun” reading,
so I got into The Hunger
Games trilogy this summer in an attempt to
understand what my students are reading. Later I
will be enjoying Pride and
Prejudice and some other Jane Austen novels, then I will move onto World Without
End. That is my plan, until Tom Johnson
writes a book, which I know I will read
immediately.
Doug Campbell, Visual Arts
Compass of Affection: Poems New and
Selected by Scott Cairns
I chose it because I have
enjoyed reading Scott
Cairns’ poetry in the past.
Cairns often chooses to
confront the reader with
inconvenient
spiritual
situations and questioning.
His writing is extremely thoughtful and
purposeful and often beautiful, but seldom
comforting. I am happy with the poetry for
the most part; however, reading the poetry
does not make me happy. Cairns does not
hesitate to bring up issues, either corporate
or personal, that confront the reader with
his spiritual shallowness or waywardness.
Gary Tandy, English
The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis
I’m reading this threevolume series for a
research project on Lewis’
theories of rhetoric, style
and language. What I’ve
noticed so far is Lewis’
keen mind and intellectual
curiosity, but what comes
across most strongly is his
love of literature and reading. It’s also interesting to read Lewis’ perspectives during
his atheist period, before his conversion to
Christianity when he was 32 years old. If
you love C. S. Lewis, I would recommend
reading his letters, perhaps selectively.

Christine Austin, Education
The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross:
Insights from an Arab Christian by Dr.
Nabeel T. Jabbour
I’m reading this book as a
follow-up to some seminars at my church about
Islam. I highly recommend it to all who seriously want to understand
Muslims and Islam, the
fastest-growing religion.
Leah Payne, Seminary
The Politics of American Religious Identity:
The Seating of Senator Reed Smoot, Mormon
Apostle by Kathleen Flake
This book is about the
hearings held to investigate the first LDS Senator
in the early 20th century.
I chose it to illuminate
the current conversations
surrounding Republican
presidential nominee Mitt Romney, and for
its exploration of the relationship between
church and state. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the upcoming election!
Jerrie Nelson, Nursing
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by
Rebecca Skloot
This book explores issues
of race, ethics, confidentiality, science, politics, money
and culture. Henrietta’s
cancer cells were taken,
studied and used for
research without her
knowledge, contributing to
many developments such as the polio vaccine and cancer treatment. The scientific
information and human story of the patient
and family are woven together, making it a
read that is difficult to put down, and leaves
one with many unsettling questions.
Mark Terry, Visual Arts
The Tiger’s Wife by Tea
Obreht
The lush language, nuance
and texture in this book
simply mesmerized me. I
couldn’t put it down, read-

ing it in a single sitting. I suspect my literary friends might say it flirts with “magical
realism,” but it does so in a completely
compelling and believable way. The words
are crafted with such care and delicacy, that
even harsh realities of recent history in the
Balkans feel poetic as they wash across the
mindscape of the reader.
Rodger Bufford, Psychology
The Left Hand of Darkness
by Ursula Le Guin
I chose this book (a Hugo
award winner) for a little
lighter reading. A novel,
set on an alien world, the
ambassador from Earth
escapes captivity and attempts a winter
trek across the polar ice cap. One of the
challenges is that the intense light and lack
of contrast (darkness) makes vision virtually
impossible. How do we see, and what role is
played by darkness?
Debby Espinor, Education
Imagine: How Creativity
Works by Jonah Lehrer
My dean, Linda Samek,
encouraged me to read
it and sent me the book. I
am really enjoying it. The
narrative includes highly
creative people like Bob
Dylan, and as I am a musician, it is nice to
have creativity seen in a positive manner.
The brain research links creativity to some
attention disorders, which has implications
for the classroom as well. It was a rewarding
personal and professional read.
Carlisle Chambers, Chemistry
The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard
Rhodes
This book was referenced
in something else that I was
reading, and after reading
the reviews on Amazon I
thought I’d give it a try. I
enjoy both science and history. TMAB is one of the
best books I’ve ever read. The first third
would make a terrific book by itself, as it is
a wonderfully detailed history of the important advances in chemistry and physics in
the early part of the 20th century.

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

21

alu m n i c o n n e c t i o n s

1960 –69

Kent Thornburg (G67) has been named interim

Roy McConaughey (G66) and Mike
McConaughey (G93) are a father-and-son
leadership team at C.S. Lewis Academy in
Newberg. The school’s board decided not to
fill a superintendent position opening and
designated Mike, the high school principal,
to oversee day-to-day operations, assisted
by Roy, the elementary and middle school
principal. The school has 180 students, 25
teachers and 10 support staff. It recently
won a “Promising Practices” award from
the Character Education Partnership for its
Students Community Outreach Program
in which students do volunteer work in the
community four times a year.

director of the Bob and Charlee Moore
Institute for Nutrition and Wellness at
Oregon Health & Science University. The
institute’s goal is to reduce the prevalence
of adult chronic diseases by promoting
healthy, nutrient-rich diets before conception, during pregnancy and lactation,
and during infancy and early childhood.
Thornburg is professor of medicine within
the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine,
and also holds joint academic appointments
in three additional areas. He joined the
OHSU faculty in 1975.
Tonya (Edwards) Porter (n68) is a home
economics and art teacher at Pierce High
School in Arbuckle, Calif., one of 24 teachers
for its 373 students.

1 970 –79
Margi (Astleford) Macy (G70) retired this

spring after 20 years teaching at George Fox
University. She finished her career as associate professor of education and co-chair
of the undergraduate teacher education
department. She joins her husband, Howard
Macy (G66), in retirement. He retired last
year after teaching in George Fox’s religion
department for 21 years. They have moved
to Friendsview Retirement Community in
Newberg.
Deborah (Goins) Johansen (G75) retired this
spring after 22 years directing drama
productions in McMinnville, Ore., public
schools. She began her career as a performer and later taught at a children’s
educational theater. She began teaching
drama at McMinnville Middle School (now
Patton Middle School) at the age of 35, then
five years ago moved to McMinnville High
School. She directed 38 shows over her
career in the district, in addition to teaching
acting classes. She also has directed and

ne w s & l i f e e v e nts

acted at the Gallery Theater in McMinnville
and Pentacle Theatre in Salem, Ore.
Tim Weaver (G76), who retired last year from
the Newberg-Dundee Police Department
after nearly 33 years, continues to receive
awards for his work clearing Oregon
highways of impaired drivers. In April, he
received the Chuck Hayes Award at the
annual DUII Multidisciplinary Conference
in Canyonville, Ore. The award is named for
the first certified Drug Recognition Expert
in Oregon, and Weaver followed in his
footsteps, earning certification in 1995 and
becoming a trainer himself in 1997.
Warren Koch (G78) has been appointed to
a three-year term as chair of the Festival
of Media Arts for the National Broadcast
Educators Association. The peer-reviewed
national event has about 1,000 entries. Koch
has served the past 10 years as associate professor of theater, film and television at Azusa
Pacific University. Previously, he spent 17
years at George Fox in a similar media position. While at APU his students have won
the association’s Best of Festival Award in
video three times.
Joel Leisy (G78) was one of 69 individuals

nationwide honored by the National Private
Truck Council. In April, in Cincinnati, he
was awarded the designation of Certified
Transportation Professional. Introduced in
1993, the designation is called “a benchmark
of excellence earned by a special few.” Leisy
is transportation manager for Safeway, Inc.,
of Auburn, Wash.
Pamela (Geagel) Blikstad (G79) has been

honored by the Portland Business Journal
as Non-Profit Chief Financial Officer of the
Year. She is vice president and chief financial officer for Medical Teams International,
based in Portland. Blikstad was recognized
for her accomplishments in managing annual budgets of more than $125 million.

alumni

connections

Dean Coffey (top right with puppet) with The Incredible Years team

n ew s & l i f e ev ent s

offers training versions for children, parents and teachers based
on the social learning theory that
we learn best by observing a
model.
That’s where Coffey comes in:
helping with that learning process. He already had been certified to be a parent group leader;
now he is certified to teach the
program to other professionals.
“Essentially what I do is provide
group supervision to predoctoral
interns and postdoctoral fellows,
reviewing recordings of their
groups and providing consultation,
feedback and opportunities to
practice new skills,” Coffey says.
Coffey actually began his
Incredible Years journey and led
his first parent-training group
while he was still a student at George Fox, and “found it to be
very effective in reducing early onset conduct problems.” He
later obtained the support of the CHLA administration to introduce the program in its Development and Behavior Clinic.
Coffey currently serves as program area leader for the
CHLA Child & Family Program, which provides mental health
services for children ages 5 to 12 and their families. He leads
a team of psychologists, social workers, and marriage and family therapists while also supervising an interdisciplinary medication clinic.

Coffey Reaches Professional Milestone
If you’re the first to do something in California, a state with
more than 37 million residents, it’s certainly a noteworthy
accomplishment. That’s the case with Dean Coffey (PsyD03),
a licensed psychologist on the staff at Children’s Hospital
Los Angeles.
Coffey is the first in his state to complete the peer coach
certification process for the national The Incredible Years program, an evidence-based psychological treatment for children
(0-12) with early onset conduct problems such as tantrums,
noncompliance and aggression. The program, started in 1982,

Gary Chenault (G80) in March resigned as
president and CEO of the United Way of
Delaware County, Ind., to spend more time
with his daughters in Portland. He had led
the organization for nearly seven years.
Chenault began his United Way career in
1990 with the central Indiana branch in his
hometown of Indianapolis. He was then
named senior campaign manager for the
United Way of Columbia-Willamette in
Portland, and later became vice president of
resource development.

Pat Casey (G90) has become the winningest
coach in Oregon State University baseball history. With his 614th win May 25
in Corvallis (a 7-3 defeat of the University
of Oregon), he passed Jack Riley, who
recorded 613 wins in 22 seasons. Casey has
coached the Beavers 18 seasons – winning
two national championships – after guiding
George Fox for seven years, compiling a 171113 record.
Jennica (Hein) Jenkins (G91) recently opened
Blue Sky Counseling Center, a psychotherapy practice that provides mental health ser-

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

23

alumni

connections

n ew s & l i f e ev ent s

Olson Plans Return to Afghanistan Despite IED Injury
The 2010 grad served as a combat medic and member of her battalion’s Female Engagement Team
When Heidi Olson received her degree in history in 2010, she almost help better their lives and to gain intelligence on the Taliban. They
immediately began a career not often chosen by George Fox help the women learn to produce goods such as hand-sewn scarves
University graduates. She had enlisted in the military, the paperwork and canned fruit for extra income and teach self-sufficiency skills.
already in progress.
Olson’s team had recently opened the Zharay District Women’s
Continuing that career is still her goal – more emphatic now than Center, inside the forward operating base. In the opening weeks
ever. But after less than five months on the front lines in Afghanistan, more than 50 women came to the center, receiving advice on incomeOlson, a medic, is now back in the United States, recuperating producing projects and on birthing and farming. It’s described as an
from injuries suffered in a May
exercise in defying Afghan male
8 IED explosion. She can’t wait
chauvinism. And while working
to return to the front as soon as
to improve the economic standpossible. “My group is still out
ing of women, the FET volunteers
there and I’m not able to help
also are helping in the struggle
out,” she says.
against illiteracy. A story about
Olson sees the incident as
the FET project reported on
only an interruption. “I have no
Olson and two others with three
change of plans,” she says. “I have
interpreters as they “circulated
every intention to stay in and to
around the open-air room and
forge the way for females to be in
worked with the children.”
combat roles.” She would prefer
“The FET’s are wonderto be on the front lines, includful to have with us,” said First
ing the dream of being the first
Lieutenant Ben Westman. “They
woman to serve with a Special
give us a capability we simply
Forces medical team, which curwould not have – the ability to
rently is not allowed by military
talk with the Afghan women.”
rules.
On the medical care front,
Olson, from Springfield, Ore.,
Olson and fellow medic Charles
Olson (right) plans to return to her role as a combat medic
went to basic training just weeks
after recovering from her injuries. Dean (pictured left) were highafter receiving her degree. She
lighted in a Mobile Public Affairs
then received advanced medical training at San Antonio Military Detachment release titled “Compassionate care – the tale of two comMedical Center in Texas – the same facility, ironically, where she was bat medics.” Interviewed prior to the IED explosion, Olson described
sent to receive medical care for injuries that included damage to her what her medic position means to her: “It’s been a thrill,” she said. “It’s
left eye, second-degree burns to about 25 percent of her face, and my lifeblood.”
minor wounds from shrapnel that peppered her left side and arm.
“Chilling at the aid station with nothing to do – that’s my idea of a
“I’m doing good,” Olson said from her recovery bed at her home perfect day,” Olson said. “It’s not that I don’t want to do my job – it’s
base, Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Wash., where she was just that we’re proficient in a skill we hope to God we never have to
flown via Germany before heading to Texas. “I’m counting my bless- use.”
ings. It could have been much worse.” Another medic in her patrol
Hauntingly, Olson also said: “When we go on missions, you just
trio became a double amputee and the third suffered lacerations and hope you don’t hear a ‘boom,’ because it means someone just stepped
a hip injury.
on an IED.”
Olson, 23, was deployed to Afghanistan last Dec. 11, serving at
Olson said she was inspired to serve her country by her univerForward Operating Base Pasab with the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry sity classes in history and political science. She thought she might
Regiment. Before her injury, she already had been featured twice in become a history teacher, but changed when she began to realize “we
military media releases for her work in the war-torn country.
live in the greatest country in the world and I would be honored to
In addition to providing medical care, Olson was also part of a serve, but serve in a different role.” With a growing interest in human
six-soldier unit that volunteered to serve as the battalion’s Female anatomy and the limited number of combat roles available to women,
Engagement Team, working with Afghan women and children to she decided becoming a combat medic made sense.

24

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

alumni

vices to adolescents and adults in Roseville,
Calif. A licensed professional counselor,
she has been a registered psychological
assistant at Monarch Center for three years
and previously was an adolescent intervention counselor in the Roseville Joint Union
High School District. Also a part-time
counselor at Sierra College in Rocklin, Calif.,
she received a PsyD degree from California
Coast University in 2005.
Daniel Rude (G92) has been promoted to
director of human resources at Embassy
Suites in Napa Valley, Calif. He previously
was assistant director of human resources at
the Hilton Portland & Executive Towers.
Ron Wolfe (G92) is the new manager-vice

president of both the Newberg and Dundee
branches of West Coast Bank. He previously was with Columbia Community
Bank, in Hillsboro, Ore., as vice president
for commercial banking. A Newberg resident already, he serves as president of the
Newberg High School Booster Club.
Terry Downey (ADP92) has been named a

regional director with John M. Floyd &
Associates, a profitability and performance
improvement consulting firm for financial
institutions. Downey will supervise the
Baytown, Texas, firm’s client work in Alaska,
Idaho, Oregon and Washington. He has 10
years of banking and credit union systems
experience, the last two years as sales manager with Financial Technology Solutions
International in Portland.
Rod Robbins (G94, MA96) is founder/owner

of First Step Adolescent Center in Newberg.
Established in 2000, it offers adolescentspecific outpatient addiction treatment services to families in Washington and Yamhill
counties. The center offers both group and
individual counseling, and its primary goal
is to aid clients in making healthy changes
in attitude, thinking and behavior.
Diane Marr Longmire (G96) earned a licensed
mental health counselor credential in
March, and in June was promoted to clinical
lead for the intake unit with the Department
of Human Services in Walla Walla County
in Washington. She and her family have

connections

n ew s & l i f e ev ent s

Rinard Recognized for
Visionary Leadership
When Dale Rinard (G67) retired last
fall after 16 years of guiding a community-based behavioral health organization in Phoenix, his coworkers did more
than just say goodbye. They secretly
prepared documents testifying what he
meant to the organization. Those papers
and research resulted in Rinard being
presented with one of the nation’s top
awards in the field.
Rinard and his wife, Nancy (Newlin) Rinard
(G67), were flown to Chicago in April where he
received the Visionary Leadership Award from
the National Council for Community Behavioral
Healthcare at its 42nd national convention. The
award, called the most prestigious in behavioral
healthcare, recognizes “innovative and inspirational work happening in behavioral health organizations nationwide.”
Rinard was cited for his work as president
and CEO of TERROS Behavioral Health, growing
it from an organization with 110 employees and
a $5.5 million budget when he started in 1995 to
450 employees and a $30 million budget when he
stepped down. “His rescue of TERROS from financial disaster means that today more than 30,000
Arizonans can receive behavioral health prevention, treatment and recovery services,” noted the
moved to a small farm outside Walla Walla,
Wash., where they plan to start a small
home-based organic farm.
Nathan Sundgren (G96) is assistant profes-

sor of pediatrics - neonatology at Baylor
College of Medicine and attending neonatologist at Texas Children’s Hospital,
both located in Houston. He earned PhD
and MD degrees from Oregon Health and
Science University in 2005, and last year
received an NEOPER designation from the
University of Texas Southwestern Medical
School, where he had his internship and
residency. His research interests are in
uncovering the developmental origins and

council. “Rinard’s creative thinking has offered
much-needed help at a reasonable cost to many
across the state.”
Rinard, a business and economics major at
George Fox, also was honored for helping to form
two new behavioral health networks in the state,
including a live 24-hour telephone crisis hotline
service that now serves about 20,000 people each
month.
Rinard also led the formation of the CHOICES
Network, a group of more than a dozen provider
agencies serving persons with serious mental illness. “Dale worked tirelessly to address barriers,
engage people, listen to fears, confront misconceptions and maintain a positive vision …” his
coworkers wrote in the nomination. “Although he is
now retired, his influence, expectations and values
are still alive.”
molecular underpinnings of cardiovascular
disease.
Casey Corum (n97) has a vacation trip to
Universal Studios Resort in Orlando, Fla.,
in his future, courtesy of his wife, Cheryl.
She appeared on the Wheel of Fortune
television game show when it was taped in
Portland in April and May and won $21,100,
including the $5,000 vacation package. She
collected $2,400 in her first game, then won
another $13,700 in the second game, which
included the vacation trip. Casey and their
three daughters were shown as Cheryl went
to the final round, where she fell just short
of bringing home the $35,000 grand prize.

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

25

alumni

The Corums live in Newberg, where she is a
Life Flight paramedic and he is in the sales
department with Newberg Ford.
Jimmi Sommer (G97) was promoted in

January and on Aug. 16, 2012, was assigned
to Washington, D.C., for one year to serve
in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of
Intelligence and Research. She will be completing a two-year assignment as vice consul/management office in Calgary, Alberta,
Canada.
Scott Goodwill (MBA98) has been appointed

manager to lead the new Energy Services
Division of C.T. Male Associates in Latham,
N.Y. The engineering, surveying, architecture and landscape architecture firm,
founded in 1910, has 135 employees. A certified energy manager, Goodwill has 26 years
experience in energy, engineering facilities
operations and management, most recently
at L&S Energy Services in Clifton Park, N.Y.,
and with SMRT Architects and Engineers as
director of its New York office.
Patrick Lewis (ADP98) has been named
national vice chair of technology of NACS,
the Association for Convenience & Fuel
Retailing. He oversees all technology initiatives for the association, with more than
148,000 store members and $682 million
in sales last year. Lewis is a partner in Oasis
Stop ’N Go Convenience Stores, with 13
stores in the Twin Falls, Idaho, area. He also
is CEO of KickBack Points, LLC, a customer
rewards program provider for the convenience store industry with participants in
49 states and Canada.
Aaron Newkirk (G98, MA99) is the new boys

basketball coach at Oregon City High
School. A history teacher, Newkirk is in
his 13th year at the school, and has served
seven years as an assistant basketball
coach. Newkirk’s ties to George Fox are
strong. In addition to being a Bruin player,
his wife, Heidi (Rueck) Newkirk (G95), was an
all-American player, and his brother-in-law,
Scott Rueck, was the George Fox women’s
basketball coach for 14 seasons before
becoming the current women’s coach at
Oregon State University.

26

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

connections

n ew s & l i f e ev ent s

Oregon Hispanic Bar Association Honors Ortega
The awards keep coming for 1984 writing
and literature grad Darleen (Mock) Ortega.
In February, the Oregon Hispanic Bar
Association awarded her its top honor: the
Paul J. De Muniz Professionalism Award.
According to the association, “Judge
Ortega has worked tirelessly to promote,
support and encourage minorities and
Latinos in the legal profession.”
Appointed by Oregon Governor Ted
Kulongoski to the Oregon Court of Appeals
in 2003, Ortega is the first woman of color
and the first Latina to serve on the court.
She was elected to a full six-year term the
next year and reelected in 2010 with 98.71
percent of the vote.
Last spring the Oregon Women Lawyers
Foundation awarded Ortega the Judge Mercedes Deiz Award, which goes to “a person who
has influenced minorities to pursue legal careers, opened doors for minority attorneys, or
advanced opportunities for minorities within the profession.”
Ortega hosts weekly discussion groups for first-year students at Willamette University
School of Law and Lewis & Clark Law School. “She nurtures mentoring relationships with
many law students and new lawyers through the state, including many ethnic minorities,”
according to the OHBA. Ortega also was cited as a frequent speaker at continuing legal
education programs and for chairing the planning committee for Opportunities for Law
in Oregon, an orientation program for ethnic minority students entering Oregon’s law
schools.
After her time at George Fox, Ortega went on to the University of Michigan Law School,
earning a J.D. degree in 1989. She then went into private practice in Detroit before returning to Oregon in 1992 to enter private legal practice in Portland.
The Oregon jurist, who took her maternal grandparents’ last name in 2002, was born
in Montebello, Calif., and spent her early childhood in the Los Angeles area before moving
with her family to Banks, Ore., when she was 10.

Jamie Ridley-Klucken (G98) has been appoint-

ed clinical assistant professor of pharmacy
practice at Shenandoah University in
Northern Virginia. She recently completed
a two-year post-graduate residency at Boise
Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where she
became a board-certified pharmacotherapy
specialist.
David Albert (ADP99, MA02) has been

mobilized and activated at Joint Base
McGuire-Dix in Lakehurst, N.J., in preparation for deployment to serve in Afghanistan

with Operation Enduring Freedom. He is
an Army sergeant in the 108th Training
Command in Charlotte, N.C. He has been in
the military for 12 years.
Heidi Williams (ADP99) is director of operations for the Oregon Educators Benefit
Board, an organization that works with
school districts, members, carriers and
providers to offer benefit plans and services.
She oversees communication, contracts,
budgeting, accounting, enrollment and the
data warehouses for member information.

alumni

20 0 0 – 0 9
Joshua Kaiser (G01) in June received a PhD
in Christian ethics from the University of
Edinburgh, Scotland. This past academic
year he was a visiting instructor in the
Department of Theology at the University
of Notre Dame. This coming academic year
he will teach at Trinity School at Greenlawn
in South Bend, Ind.
Brian Van Bergen (G02) is a candidate in the

Nov. 6 general election for the position of
Yamhill County (Oregon) clerk, responsible
for maintaining records and supervising
elections. He was one of two candidates
chosen from a field of four in the May 15 primary, receiving the highest total with 36.8
percent of the vote. A Newberg resident, he
is an account manager and digital storefront
manager with Lynx Group, Inc. of Salem,
Ore. – a position he’s held since 2006 after
10 years with Times Litho, Inc., in Forest
Grove, Ore.
Michelle Cox (MA03) in May became the new

director of student health and counseling
services at Western Oregon University,
where she received her undergrad degree.
She completed her internship at the
WOU counseling center while earning her
George Fox degree. Since 2005 she has
been an assistant professor in the Graduate
Department of Counseling at George Fox.
Matt Gerber (G03) is clinical research coordinator and cancer research associate at
the University of Minnesota. He has been
in that position since February 2011, after
operating his own business development
and public relations consulting firm for twoand-a-half years.
Sabrina Walters (MA04) has been recognized
in Cambridge Who’s Who for her two counseling services: Core Values Counseling
and Sabrina Walters Counseling. The former provides training and counseling for
coaches, clergy and counselors. The latter is
her private practice for families, couples and
individuals, which also provides diagnostic
and drug and alcohol assessments.
Ian Wendler (MBA04) this spring was hon-

ored by Oregon State University, which

connections

named him to the Council of Outstanding
Early Career Engineers. He is director of
research, development and strategic sourcing for Warn Industries, Inc. of Clackamas,
Ore. He began with the company as an
intern and now provides leadership for a
global team. Warn – which has 500 employees – designs, manufactures and markets
products for off-road vehicles.
Brian Howerton (n05) in March was named

the new communications center director for
Life Flight Network, a not-for-profit medical
transport service in the Pacific Northwest
and Intermountain West. He is responsible
for overseeing the Boise center, which
receives and coordinates all incoming
requests for transports, using the latest satellite tracking technology and data systems
to monitor each aircraft’s movement. The
company’s administrative offices are located
in Aurora, Ore.
John Davis (G05) has been chosen by
Oregon Republicans to be their candidate for Oregon House District 26 in this
November’s election. He bested three rivals
to fill the open slot created by a resignation. Davis is an associate with the law firm
McEwen Gisvold of Portland. A graduate of
the Willamette University College of Law,
he joined the firm in 2010 and represents clients in the areas of business and real estate
transactions, finance, business law and
estate planning. A resident of Wilsonville,
Ore., he serves as president of Emerging
Leaders for Oregon and is a committee
member with Wilsonville Young Life.
Sue Hubbard (MDiv05) on Feb. 12 was
ordained and installed as associate pastor
at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Salem,
Ore. She has been a parish ministry associate since 2006 and serves in the areas of
pastoral care, teaching and counseling, and
as coordinator of adult education offerings. She is a member of the George Fox
Evangelical Seminary Board of Regents.
Ben Hanna (MBA06) has been named general
manager for Olsen Agricultural Enterprises
in Monmouth, Ore. It farms about 6,500
acres in three Oregon counties with a focus
on grass seed, peppermint oil, wine grapes

n ew s & l i f e ev ent s

and blueberry production. Previously, for
nearly four years, he was vice president
for business development at HearHere by
Lightspeed. He had been with the engineering company that specializes in infrared
classroom audio technology since 2000.
Lindsay Peterson (G06) in May was named
director of undergraduate admissions for
George Fox University. She has been on the
staff for six years. The same month she also
received a master of organizational leadership degree from Gonzaga University in
Spokane, Wash.
Jon Hanson (G06) is the newest member of

the Coos Bay, Ore., City Council. He was
appointed by the council and took office in
February. Hanson works for South Coast
Office Supply in Coos Bay, where he is
responsible for business development.
He also is a board member of the Coos
Bay Student Loan Fund and the Bay Area
Chamber of Commerce.
John Hossler (G06) in May graduated from
The University of Montana with a PhD
in mathematics and this fall will begin as
assistant professor of mathematics at Seattle
Pacific University.
Raymond Leach (DMin06) is the author of

two books. His most recent book, Iron
Cross Under Crescent Moon, chronicles his
16-month deployment as an Army chaplain in Iraq. He currently is 181st Infantry
Brigade chaplain at Fort McCoy, Wis.
Amy (Smith) Alumbaugh (G07) and Bevan
Alumbaugh (G08) live in Westminster, S.C.,

where both are employed at Wilderness
Way Girls Camp. She is a group supervisor
and he is maintenance and project supervisor. The camp, in Fair Play, S.C., is for girls
8-16 who are struggling in their families,
schools and communities. It was founded
in 1990 as a private, Christian, not-for-profit,
therapeutic camping program. Those participating spend up to 14 months as they are
provided with “friendship therapy” in smallgroup settings.
Greg Foley (MBA07) was a newly commissioned second lieutenant in the field artillery when he began a personal journal in

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

27

alumni

2004 prior to leaving for Iraq. His journal
is now a new book, Journal of a Christian
Soldier in Iraq, published in June by Xulon
Press, the world’s largest Christian self-publisher. Foley was attached to the 1st Calvary
Division, serving with the Oregon Army
National Guard’s 41st Infantry Brigade, 2-12
Infantry, Alpha Company. He first served
as company fire support officer and later
assumed command of 2nd Platoon on daily
combat patrols in hostile neighborhoods
of Baghdad. A member of the National
Coalition of Men’s Ministries, he uses his
experience in military and business to
inspire and challenge men in the church

connections

to fulfill their calling. He and his family are
living in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where he is a
Target store manager.
Michele DeBuhr (MBA07) was promoted to

vice president/consumer credit administration with OnPoint Community Credit
Union in Portland. She has 16 years with the
firm, most recently as vice president/organization effectiveness. Previously she was
an assistant branch manager, training and
development manager and project manager
for database conversion for the credit union.
Laurel Emory (MBA07) was named chief of
staff, reporting to the CEO of the Denver

Caring for the Caregivers
When Steve Ristow wrote his master’s thesis in 1996, it wasn’t just to
earn a degree in Christian studies from George Fox – he was simultaneously preparing a business plan and a career.
A year later, he established Quiet Waters Outreach, which serves
individuals with developmental disabilities in four Oregon counties. Now
helping up to 2,500 individuals annually, the ministry has grown to nine
full- and part-time employees in addition to 350 volunteers. A multipronged effort helps participants (called “treasures” or “guests”) with
disabilities ranging from Down syndrome to cerebral palsy and autism.
At the same time it helps their parents and caregivers by providing a
much-needed break.
Ristow prepared for the outreach in his thesis, “Respite Care: A
Comprehensive Study on the Need for Respite Care for Families and Caregivers of Individuals with Mental
Retardation and/or Developmental Disabilities.”
“This laid the foundation for where I am today,” he says. He originally planned to become a Christian
psychologist, but while studying for his master’s felt “God was not calling me there, but to ministry in a
very special area.” He adds, “This was a really pivotal shift, clarifying the future for me.”
He took the operating name for his organization from the 23rd Psalm: “He leads me beside quiet
waters, He restores my soul.”
“Our mission is restoration and our source is God’s power,” explains Ristow. “The name ‘Quiet Waters
Outreach’ perfectly assimilates the two and defines our ministry.”
Ristow grew up with an adopted sister with Fetal Alcohol Effects, and that planted the seed for his
efforts. With firsthand experience caring for someone with a disability, he knew the imminent need for
spiritual, emotional, mental and physical restoration for the caregivers.
Quiet Waters has now grown to include two bed and breakfasts that provide a three-day weekend of
activities for individuals with developmental disabilities while their caregivers enjoy a mini vacation; a
Discovery Day Program that allows these individuals to learn valuable life skills and become engaged in
the community through service-oriented involvement; and other programs that provide activities at local
churches and support for families.

28

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

n ew s & l i f e ev ent s

site of Coram, a national healthcare provider
of infusion services. In January, she completed exams in the Regent University PhD program in organizational leadership. Now she
is working on her dissertation, focusing on
the path to leadership of Christian women
in executive leadership positions.
Bryan Harada (G08) in May promoted his

first major showcase, Seattle Hip Hop
Resurrection. The event was sponsored
by Luis Palau’s Creative Arts Alliance and
World Concern. Harada works at Spirit
105.3 FM radio in Seattle as its promotions/
events coordinator and also owns ONE
Entertainment Music Group, a company
that works with entertainers to create “new
and innovative ways to impact and inspire
the culture through the arts.” He also volunteers with Young Life in Shoreline, Wash.
Katherine (Winning) Schweitzer (EdD09) is the
new principal at Kelso Elementary School
in Boring, Ore., part of the Oregon Trail
School District. She moves from a position
as vice principal at Sam Barlow High School
in Gresham, Ore., where she was an administrator for one year after serving as vice
principal for student life at La Salle Catholic
College Preparatory in Milwaukie, Ore.

2010 –11
Lydia (Yokoi) Funaishi (G10) is a charge nurse
at Friendsview Retirement Community’s
health services center in Newberg. She initially became familiar with Friendsview as a
student while volunteering to give flu shots,
then worked in the health center as a certified nursing assistant during her senior year.
Adam Cuneo (MBA11) has been hired as
senior sales consultant for Tribute Media of
Boise. He is responsible for sales and client
consultations, helping in Web design, Web
marketing, social media and search engine
optimization. Previously, he spent four years
with Cable One in its sales department.
Jonelle (Fodge) Liddell (G11) is a registered

September 5
Serve Day
isn’t just for
students –
it’s for alumni, too! Reconnect with your alma
mater and work side-by-side with current
students as they reach out to the community
through service. To learn how you can get
involved, e-mail serveday@georgefox.edu or
call 503-554-2326.

Broadway Across
America &
Oregon Ballet
Theatre
Discounted Tickets
Join alumni, parents and friends
of George Fox at Keller Auditorium for
live performances of Memphis (Sept. 12), The
Nutcracker (Dec. 15), Swan Lake (Feb. 16), War
Horse (Feb. 27) and Addams Family (June 26).
Discounted tickets can be purchased for individual shows or as part of a package, but they
are limited so order yours today! For more
information, visit broadway.georgefox.edu or
call 503-554-2134.

bruin

ev en t s a n d a n n o un c em en t s

Sports Hall of Fame
Induction Ceremony
September 15

Join us as we honor our
17th class of George Fox
Sports Hall of Fame inductees with a ceremony held
at Bauman Auditorium. Jon Newkirk, Ryan
Munoz, Rob Wunder, Jim Jackson and the
women’s 1996 track and field team will all be
recognized, followed by a reception. For more
information, e-mail
alumni@georgefox.edu or call 503-554-2134.

Show, reunions, lectures by current professors, the annual Family Weekend Luncheon, a
kid-friendly tailgate party, the Alumni Awards
Banquet, theatre and music performances,
Family Weekend Bingo and much more!
Whether you are coming back to campus to
visit with old college friends, spend time with
your student or both, it will be a fun-filled
weekend your whole family will enjoy.
For more information, visit
sharingstories.georgefox.edu or call
503-554-2134.

Bruin Madness III
February 2, 2013

October 26-28
Alumni and parents of current students alike
are invited to campus for a weekend filled
with all manner of exciting events, including
the Homecoming Coronation and Variety

Throw on your blue,
gold and white and
bring your family to Bruin Madness III!
Alumni, students, parents, community members and other fans will all come together for
some delicious tailgate fare and family-friendly
activities at the Indoor Tailgate Party Dinner
and KidZone. Then, everyone will head off to
Miller Gymnasium to cheer on the Bruins!
After the basketball games, young alumni
(those from the past 10 years) are invited to
head over to Abby’s Pizza to continue the celebration. For more information, e-mail alumni@
georgefox.edu or call 503-554-2134.

We Can Help With Estate Planning
Do you find estate planning complicated or have an estate plan
that is out of date? If so, George Fox has the resources to help.
Call or write for your free “Will and Trust Planning Guide” and “Estate
Inventory Form.” We can help provide you with information on:
p Wills
p Powers of Attorney
p Living Trusts p Property Disposition
Have questions? Contact Dave Adrian at 503-554-2113
or e-mail him at dadrian@georgefox.edu.

30

G E O R G E F OX J OU R N A L

fall 2 0 12

p football is back.

a storm is bruin. f

Three Ways You Can Get In The Game:

2. Legacy Lockers
1. Bruin Backer Club
By making a “Build and Play Pledge” of two $2,500
donations for the first two years of the program (2013-14),
you’ll help finance operational costs.
With your donation, you will:
p Sponsor one of the 100 players who suit up the
first season
p Receive two season tickets/parking spot for first
two seasons
p Be invited to special tailgating events and
opportunities to interact with players and coaches

Your name, your quote, your legacy. Inspire players for
generations to come by purchasing a Legacy Locker
($1,500) and placing your favorite inspirational quote on
a plaque on or above a locker. You’ll also get two season
tickets to the inaugural 2014 season.

3. Buy a Brick
Buy and name a brick in
the football plaza ($200).
By engraving a brick with
your name or that of a
loved one, you’ll honor
memories of the past
while paving the way for
the future.

A Bright Idea
Solar panels installed on the plant services building, Villa
Academic Complex, Coffin and Le Shana halls, and the Stevens
Center will save George Fox $13,000 annually over the next 15
years, significantly reducing the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s carbon footprint.

Jeremy Lloyd

Associate Director of Plant Services Dan Schutter (pictured
here with students Dmitriy Artikov and Katherine Fuller)
was tasked with overseeing the project, which is just one
of several green initiatives being implemented. Visit
georgefox.edu/green to learn more.